Published in 1978 from 1977 US Geological Survey work, “Cass” is a finely resolved 1:24,000 topographic portrait of the high country around Cass and Snowshoe, West Virginia. At this intimate quadrangle scale, the map belongs to the great federal tradition of mapping America not as abstraction, but as lived terrain: roads, trails, streams, ridgelines, forest cover, and settlement all gathered into a precise visual register. Its subject is Pocahontas County’s mountainous interior, where the Allegheny landscape rises and folds through the Monongahela National Forest. The title itself, spare and local, evokes a place shaped by railroads, timber, winter weather, and the long environmental recovery of the Appalachian uplands.

The map’s strongest visual language is its contouring: tightly nested brown elevation lines climb the slopes, open into valley floors, and trace the muscular geometry of the Allegheny Mountains. The familiar USGS palette gives the sheet both clarity and quiet beauty, with greens marking woodland and upland vegetation, lighter ground indicating open or developed areas, and blue threading creeks and drainages through the relief. Around Snowshoe, the contours express an especially dramatic summit landscape, conveying why this area would become a center of mountain recreation. The eye can follow saddles, hollows, and ridge roads, reading the land almost topographically by touch: every interval suggests grade, exposure, and the labor required to cross this rugged terrain.

Cass anchors the map historically as well as geographically. Once one of the great company towns of the West Virginia lumber era, Cass grew around the railroad and the extraction of red spruce and hardwood from the surrounding mountains. By the late 1970s, the town’s identity was already intertwined with preservation and heritage tourism, particularly through the celebrated Cass Scenic Railroad, which revived the industrial rail corridors as a route into mountain memory. Nearby Edray, Greenbank, and scattered rural communities appear within a landscape where human presence remains modest beside the scale of forest and slope. Roads and trails curve with the terrain rather than conquering it, revealing the persistent Appalachian pattern of settlement along valleys, gaps, and stream courses.

The inclusion of Snowshoe gives the quadrangle a particularly evocative date. Snowshoe Mountain’s ski development began in the 1970s, and this map captures the area at an early moment in its transformation from remote timber highland into one of the Mid-Atlantic’s premier winter destinations. The topography explains the choice: high elevations, broad ridges, cold-weather exposure, and steep gradients combined to make a rare southern Appalachian ski landscape. At the same time, the surrounding Monongahela National Forest reminds the viewer that recreation developed within a broader conservation setting. The map therefore documents not only terrain, but a shift in regional economy—from logging and rail extraction toward managed forest, outdoor leisure, and scenic value.

As a US Geological Survey production, “Cass” reflects the precision and democratic purpose of twentieth-century American mapping. The quadrangle was designed for utility—engineering, forestry, resource management, land navigation, and public planning—but it now carries a rich historical charge. Its late-1970s depiction preserves roads, trails, habitat patterns, and settlement footprints at a moment before later resort expansion and changing land use altered parts of the region. Rivers and creeks, though modest in line, organize the valleys and hint at the watersheds descending through the Alleghenies. Seen today, the map is both an instrument and a landscape biography: a disciplined, elegant record of Cass, Snowshoe, and the forested mountains that define them.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Cass
• Snowshoe
• Greenbank
• Monongahela National Forest
• Edray
• Various unnamed hills and valleys
• Rivers and creeks shown in lower detail
• Trails and roads running through the area

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey
• Created in 1977 and published in 1978
• Map scale is 1:24,000
• Covers Snowshoe and surrounding areas in West Virginia
• Features detailed topographic contour lines showing elevation changes
• Uses shades of green to depict vegetation and elevation
• Highlights mountainous terrain and valleys characteristic of the Appalachian region
• Reflects the topography and natural features of the area during the late 1970s
• Shows evidence useful for understanding changes in land use, development, and natural habitat since that time

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.